Weekly Editorial: GM finds help overseas; Ford is left spinning its wheels

You have to feel sorry for Ford – less than a month after it showed the “new” Focus for the first time, GM debuted the Saturn Astra. While the former is a rehash of Ford’s once class-leading compact, the Saturn arrives straight from Europe, where its Opel Astra twin is the peer of the European Ford Focus Mk II. The story is similar in what was once Ford’s stronghold: SUVs. Here, Ford’s "new", but already old-looking, Escape will battle the genuinely new Saturn VUE, twin to the Opel Antara.

Notice a pattern there? In search for new models to replace its mediocre lineup, GM went oversees and there it struck gold. Why should Saturn develop the replacement for the slow-selling ION when it can readily poach Europe’s second best-selling compact? Not only does it dramatically cut development costs, but GM also gets a top-of-its-class car developed to cater to European’s more demanding tastes instead of another dud ION. What’s there not to like?

Not much, but there is a catch – in order for the business case to stick, the "donor" car needs to be reasonably inexpensive to manufacture. Only then it can be sold at a profit in the American market, where cars traditionally sell for less than on the Old Continent and the margins are thinner. That is almost surely the reason why Ford decided not to bring the Focus II over from Europe. Unlike the Astra, which rides on a trusted and inexpensive torsion beam at the back, the Focus II uses a sophisticated “control-blade” rear suspension. The difference between the two in manufacturing is said to be as much as $1,000! So instead of selling a good car at low margins, Ford decided there was life yet in the old dog and thoroughly restyled the 1st-gen Focus. Will the extra margins on selling the restyled car compensate for the money spent on developing an alternative "New" Focus? All we can be sure is that Ford’s bean counters believed it would.

But they may yet be proven wrong if buyers pass Ford’s showrooms and instead flock to Saturn to get their hands on the newer, better model. And let’s not forget the cachet associated with selling a Euro-car in the American market – Chrysler’s 300C would not sell half as well if it wasn’t based on the platform from Mercedes E-class. If the rumors are true, Ford may already be shopping in Europe, hoping to adopt the new Mondeo as a future Mercury model (the Mondeo comes with a “control-blade” rear suspension, may I add).

In the meantime, GM got a head start on Ford, and is using it well. This week the General showed pictures of the chiseled new Pontiac G8. Will American buyers be bothered that the car is twined with the Aussie Holden Commodore? Not a bit, because the G8 is better looking, newer and almost certainly better handling than anything Ford has to offer in this class.

Shopping for new models oversees is by no means a golden bullet, though, as proven by the mediocrity of Suzuki- and Chevy-badged Daewoos, or the failure of the first-gen Mondeo, sold in the US as the Contour. But it’s a potentially quick and cheap way to introduce a new car to the market when there is not enough money or time to develop a unique one from scratch.